In response to a question by Joanne C. Daley of Cochise County, Tancredo said “Rob Krentz was absolutely killed by an illegal alien, a drug runner on his land.” The Krentz killing remains unsolved.

Tancredo says that Mexican children are so stupid that they are holding back the entire education system:

[Tancredo] also asserted that public education is “dumbed down” to accommodate the children of illegal aliens...

So, these Mexicans are pretty stupid, right? So stupid that we need to stop them from coming here to take our jobs:

“There is no rationale that I can think of to bring 165,000 people a month into the country. These are all people looking for a job.”

Or are they here just to suck up social services? I don't know, but Tancredo seems to think both:

Tancredo went on to lament dialysis treatment for illegal aliens and claimed that illegals cross the border simply to turn themselves in to get dental work. He said many illegal aliens were getting transplant operations at the expense of needy U.S. citizens.

Also, Mexicans hate the US, so much so that if you removed immigration restrictions, every one of them would move here within days:

“Immediately when you get that status in this country you begin to apply, you can apply for amnesty for your whole family. Then they do it for their family. You go on forever.” He predicted five to ten million amnesty applications daily.

Mexico has a population of less than 110 million. Also, in about 15 years, the entire world would live in the United States if we didn't restrict immigration. They'd all come for "our" jobs, social services or to murder people maliciously. One of the three. Be scared!

Surprisingly, the fact that these assertions have no basis in reality is not what amazes me most. The fact that Tancredo attributes drug war violence to immigration isn't even the most outrageous part of his speech. What I am amazed by is that 80 or so people could actually sit through a speech that cannot even demonize Mexicans consistently!

Tancredo believes Mexican children are dumb, yet they're in school in an attempt to be educated. Tancredo ignores the real issue which is that US schools are being dumbed down by the government running them.

Tancredo says Mexicans are here to use our welfare system, ignoring the fact that far more US citizens are on welfarethan immigrants. Tancredo also ignores the fact that immigrants do pay many taxes, including property and sales taxes, so they should qualify for some government services just like any other taxpayer. And finally, he fails to acknowledge that the welfare state will never work in the long-term for Americans alone, much less immigrants. He ignores the fact that the problem with the welfare state is the welfare state, not immigration.

Tancredo says Mexicans are here to take all of our jobs, but he ignores the fact that immigrants typically accept low-paying, unskilled jobs that most Americans are unwilling to accept. He also ignores the fact that business owners have property rights. They own their business and have the right to fire and hire whom they please.

And last but not least, Tancredo seems ready to deny the "American Dream" to all but those who are already in this country legally. Like most of our ancestors, of course these immigrants will file for amnesty for their families. Of course they want their children's lives to be better than their own. Of course they want to live free, pursue their own happiness and prosper. How soon Tancredo has forgotten where he is from. (Both sets of his grandparents immigrated from Italy during a time when Italians (and Catholics) were discriminated against by mainstream America.)

Tom Tancredo is an unprincipled fool without a fact to speak of. His ignorance and bigotry shine through in his hypocritical comments, and his ideas are dangerous to those of us who wish to live free and pursue happiness.

Comments (3)

Great commentary. Especially with regards to the welfare state and the property rights issue. The points you brought up are always evaded by conservatives when they talk about immigration.

Anonymous
(April 26, 2011 at 6:35 PM)

hey joshua, great commentary you say ? and did you flunk math too ? let's attempt to make sence of valenzuelas great points from a basic 'math' point of view. ready ? a poor immigrant 'we'll call pedro', sneaks across the u.s. border 20 years ago with nothing but the shirt on his back. he accepts the (1)low paying jobs that 'most americans would not'. he may have learned a little english, but for argument sake let us pretend he can read and write in his own native 'spanish'. (2) he's had and raised 3 healthy children, for argument sake let's pretend (3) they attended universities 'versus penitentaries',(4) he owns a minimum of one home and (5) pays property taxes on it, and (6) pays local and state sales taxes on purchases. (hey, sounds like the american dream to me). o.k., stay with me now, take item number (1), then subtract item numbers (2) and so on. please note that item number (2) also includes, but is not limited to, medical, dental, healthy diets to include school lunches, optometrists, ect. now, when you've read my reply here, you'll point out all of my errors, mis-spellings, you'll rip my entire dialogue apart and call me ignorant amongst other things. yes, i am indeed the bottom of the barrel and confess i may meerly represent the 'bi-product' of my own group, but accepting the truth of my inferiority, isn't it actually kinda scary 'I' can do the math ?